August Explorations

Spence and I had a good week exploring some classic Americana sites. We had lunch at Eddie’s Diner, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, that looks like a classic diner that has been remodeled, updated and has had substantial additions. In the original section, there are three booths to the right and a cashier stand with two additional booths to the left. There are 18 affixed stools along the straight counter, with a banner behind the counter noting the 25th anniversary of the diner (in 2012). The primary color scheme of the diner is a dark pink set against the stainless steel fixtures. Eddie’s Diner offered Spencer is first opportunity to try Birch Beer, which I think her enjoyed. The diner was busy and the servers knew many of the patrons by name.

The following day we made our way to Crystal Grottoes Caverns just outside Boonsboro, Maryland. The cave was discovered on 18 September 1920 when workers, excavating limestone to build Route 34, broke through and felt cool air emerging from the ground. After exploring the caverns, excavations were halted with the provision that the cave would be open to the public. The cave’s first day of business was 2 April 1922 when tourists were charged 7 cents to enter. Because no humans entered the cave until the twentieth century, many of the formations are pristine. This small roadside attraction, the only caves open to the general public in Maryland, is both fun and educational.

Just a few miles away stands the first completed memorial dedicated to George Washington on South Mountain.  Washington Monument State Park, located in Middletown, Maryland, was built by the citizens of Boonsboro on 4 July 1827. The more famous monument, the marble obelisk in Washington DC, was built between 1848 and 1884. Standing fifteen feet high at the end of the day, the Maryland monument was completed in September of that year can stood thirty feet. It has fallen into disrepair from time to time and was most recently rebuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1936.

A fellow visitor at the
Washington Monument

Holsum Bread Advertisement at Keystone Stores

The monument, which you can climb to the top of, offers a beautiful view of the valley below. Unfortunately, on the day we visited, the mountain was shrouded in clouds and fog. Every so often, the clouds would momentarily part to offer a tantalizing view of the valley below.

Our week ended with an exploration of the small borough of Pine Grove Pennsylvania. Among the interesting sites in the town was the Pine Grove Theatre, opened in 1910 and the Keystone Stores, an old grocery store that still has many of the old advertisements in its windows.